Page 79 of Enemy of the Heart

I can’t formulate a reply as my body shakes, wracked with overwhelming despair. I’m living my worst nightmare, and it’s worse than I could’ve imagined. Mercer can’t be gone. I never got to say goodbye. My tears dampen the strands of soft, dark hair that peek between my fingers as they steadily track down my face. I feel as though I’m dying, too.

Sean

“We need to leave. Now. This safe house has been thoroughly compromised. There’s some farmland about seven kilometers away where my chopper can pick us up. I’ll send a cleanup crew here,” Viktor states firmly, his .44 Magnum clutched tightly at his side.

Louhi’s pain pierces through the air in the form of sobs, and I press her head tighter to my chest, my other arm banded around her shoulders. Mercer’s blood is everywhere. It coats Lou’s skin and saturates her clothing.

Mercer was killed only meters from where we all peacefully slept. I can only imagine the weight of the oppressive guilt she must be shouldering. My own heart breaks for her.

“They’re not coming back,” Jace asserts, and my eyes flick up to meet his compassionate gaze as he stares down at me and the woman in my arms. “They got what they came for and took proof of the kill with them…for Conall, if I had to guess.”

“You don’t know that, and we don’t have enough ammunition if they return. I don’t like those odds,” Viktor argues. He has a point, even if I think Jace is right. We shouldn’t gamble with our lives any more than we already have.

Sucked into the vortex of her sorrow, Louhi begins to rock back and forth like she might generate enough energy to bring her brother back to life.

She wails, her eyes screwed shut, as Jace says, “Lou’s clearly not in any state to travel.”

“I’m not waiting around anymore,” Viktor barks. In the blink of an eye, he has his phone next to his ear, and he’s speaking in rapid Russian.

Louhi doesn’t seem to hear anything being said. I rub a firm hand down her back to try to get her attention, but it’s like her grief is the only world she’s existing in.

Jace squats down next to us and gently cups her shoulder. “Lou?”

My best friend and I look at each other when she doesn’t respond except for hiccups and tears. Her brother was there for her when she lost her parents, and I’m going to be there for her now. I’ll give her whatever she needs. I’ll give her everything.

“If we leave in the next five minutes, we’ll arrive at the pick-up site at the same time as my helicopter,” Viktor explains, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

“Will you grab Lou’s pillow?” I ask Viktor, and he disappears down the hall.

When he disappears down the hallway, I brush my hands through her hair. “Can you get up for me, baby? We need to go.”

When she doesn’t indicate that she heard me, I shift my gaze back to Jace, and he nods, responding to my wordless communication.

I scoop her into my arms bridal style, ignoring the pang in my shoulder. When I turn for the door, hiccupping sobs wrack her body, and she attempts to claw her way out of my grasp, as though she’s trying to get back to Mercer.

“Jace has him, Lou,” I assure her. I don’t have to glance over my shoulder to know my best friend has done exactly that. She stops thrashing, though, even if her face remains etched with agony.

We’re all severely underdressed for the weather. Lou only in one of my T-shirts, me only in pants, Jace in a pair of fucking boxers. As I open the back door to the SUV, I slide inside, keeping Lou clutched tightly in my arms. Jace climbs in behind us, still holding Mercer. Viktor jogs outside, the pillow and a duffle in his hands. He drops it in the passenger seat, then puts the car in gear.

“There’s a pair of pants in the bag,” he says over his shoulder, presumably directed at Jace, then adds, “And shoes for both of you.”

Viktor didn’t go the extra mile for Louhi; he did that for us, and the settled feeling from last night washes back over me. We’re all going to be okay—Louhi, included.

By the time we reach Viktor’s chopper almost thirty minutes later, the back seat of the SUV is coated in blood and Louhi’s tears. Even over the sound of the helicopter blades whirring, Louhi makes a keening sound that makes my chest constrict.

As the rotorcraft lifts off the ground, Lou drops her head against my chest, and I hug her tightly. Her journey toward healing is going to be long and hard, but I’m going to be with her for every excruciating moment of it. I was the one that hurt her once. Now, I want to be the one that heals her.

Louhi

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

“I just want to say that this is both idiotic and beautiful in equal measure.”

I roll my eyes at Honey Eyes’s statement. Although he’s probably right.

Sean snorts, but proceeds to remove his shirt, yanking it over his head, leaving him in nothing but black tactical trousers and boots. The look is bloody hot.

Even as I take in the gorgeous man standing before me, a wave of sadness rolls through me. I wish my brother was here for this.